Sri Lanka kickstarted their World Cup campaign with a narrow three-run victory at the Newlands Cricket Ground in South Africa. The match had it all and was almost like a tussle for bragging rights between the bowlers of both sides that made it such a thriller. South Africa, in their home World Cup won the toss and decided to bowl first.
Sri Lanka was off to a sluggish start as the openers Harishitha Samarawickrama and Chamari Athapaththu took time to settle in as the new ball duo of Shabnim Ismail, and Marizanne Kapp gave absolutely no breathing space to the batters. They persisted and in the powerplay were 28/0 but as Samarawickrama was dismissed by Nadine de Klerk who got the first breakthrough, Sri Lanka needed more firepower to chase down the total. That’s when the youngster Vishmi Gunaratne joined the skipper at the crease and slowly and steadily built on a partnership. With a strong base of an 86 runs partnership, an unfortunate run out of Gunaratne for 35 and the subsequent dismissal of Athapaththu for a well-crafted 68 meant Sri Lanka lost key wickets in the death overs. With Anushka Sanjeewani, Nilakshi de Silva and Ama Kanchana’s efforts, Sri Lanka finished on a modest 129/4 in thor 20 overs quota. Marizanne Kapp was brilliant as she gave away just 15 runs in her 4 overs while scalping a wicket, and as did Shabnim Ismail with able support from Ayabonga Khaka, Nonkululeko Mlaba and Nadine de Kerk, who chipped in with a wicket.
Chamari Athapaththu smashes her highest T20I score against 🇿🇦South Africa 💪#CricketTwitter #T20WorldCup pic.twitter.com/Er24Yk1CwZ
— Female Cricket (@imfemalecricket) February 10, 2023
South Africa had the opening duo of Laura Wolvaardt and Tazmin Brits open the proceedings, and a slow start ensued a tricky run chase. Brits was dismissed for 12 in the 4th over, and before Marizanne Kapp could do any damage, Inoka Ranaweera got the better of her in the 7th over. Another jolt was losing Wolvaardt for 18 in the ninth over as Inoka Ranaweera struck again. Wickets kept tumbling at regular intervals, and with no set batter at the other end to anchor, the run chase was always going to get challenging. Losing Chloe Tryon for a run-a-ball 10 and Anneke Bosch for a two-ball duck in the same over by Sugandika Kumari, recovery was certainly going to be hard.
✨3-18 ( 4 overs)
Inoka Ranaweera scalps a stunning three wicket haul against 🇿🇦South Africa for a brilliant victory👏#CricketTwitter #T20WorldCup2023 pic.twitter.com/GOrOFnMmUb
— Female Cricket (@imfemalecricket) February 10, 2023
Nadine de Klerk and captain Sune Luus tried holding the batting together and kept the scoreboard ticking, but before they could settle in, the duo of Kumari and Ransainghe sent them packing to the pavilion. Sinalo Jafta inspired a comeback as her scintillating cameo of 15 off just 9, but it was abruptly cut off as a run out of both her and Ismail for 7 made the writing clear on the wall. Sri Lanka pulled off a narrow three-run win on the back of a good bowling performance and will take confidence from this match, while South Africa will have to reflect on their performance after this agonizingly close loss.
🇱🇰 Sri Lanka won by 3 Runs
🇱🇰 Sri Lanka: 129-4 (20)
Chamari Athapaththu: 68 (50)
Vishmi Gunaratne: 35 (34)
Marizanne Kapp: 1-15🇿🇦 South Africa: 126-9 (20)
Sune Luus: 28 (27)
Laura Wolvaardt: 18 (23)
Inoka Ranaweera: 3-18#CricketTwitter #T20WorldCup pic.twitter.com/DyS8WmBrFt— Female Cricket (@imfemalecricket) February 10, 2023
Brief Scores: Sri Lanka 129/4 in 20 overs (Athapaththu 68, Gunaratne 35; Kapp 1-15) beat South Africa 126/9 in 20 overs (Luus 28; Ranaweera 3-18, Ranasinghe 2-20, Sugandika 2-28) by three runs
I am a first year postgraduate student pursuing a MA in Media and Communication Studies at Christ University, Bengaluru. I am a podcaster, blogger and an avid cricket fan. When not glued to cricket matches, you can find me submerged in books and thinking about cricket all the time.
